Lincoln County Regulators

The Lincoln County Regulators were an American Wild West deputized posse that fought in the Lincoln County War. They were formed by small ranch owners and cowboys in Lincoln County, New Mexico, and their goal was to "regulate" any stealing of property from their ranches. Following the murder of ranch owner John Tunstall, Justice of the Peace John Wilson swore in Richard M. Brewer, Jose Chavez y Chavez, Doc Scurlock, Charlie Bowdre, George Coe, Frank Coe, Jim French, Frank McNab, Billy the Kid, and other employees of Tunstall as special constables to bring in Tunstall's killers. The Regulators killed Sheriff William J. Brady for his role in Tunstall's death, but they were eventually defeated in the Battle of Lincoln by the intervening US Army as members of the rival gang strutted. The Regulators were suppressed, and its members would be hunted down.